West Covina, Calif. Bans Smoking in Parks

After not being able to come to a compromise about designated smoking area, the West Covina, Calif. City Council decided to make all areas of its 16 parks smoke-free at its most recent meeting.

While a ban passed this spring sought to carve out designated smoking areas, only four parks had such spaces and each was described as being less than ideal. Additionally, creating smoking areas would make it harder for police to enforce, so the city decided to put a blanket ban in place, approving it by a 3-2 vote.

Violators of the ban, which includes both tobacco and alternative nicotine delivery products such as e-cigarettes, will be subject to a $250 fine.

West Covina is located 19 miles east of downtown Los Angeles and is home to nearly 108,000 residents.

I strive to capture the essence of a cigar and the people behind them in my work – every cigar you light up is the culmination of the work of countless people and often represents generations of struggle and stories. For me, it’s about so much more than the cigar – it’s about the story behind it, the experience of enjoying the work of artisans and the way that a good cigar can bring people together. In addition to my work with halfwheel, I’m the Spring Training public address announcer for the Colorado Rockies, PA announcer for the Salt River Rafters of the Arizona Fall League, and PA announcer for the Phoenix Mercury of the WNBA. I'm also work in a number of roles for MLB.com, plus I'm a voice talent and writer, among other things. I previously covered the Phoenix and national cigar scene for Examiner.com, and was an editor for Cigar Snob magazine.

Vinny Gracchus

This ban exemplifies the deceit and political machinations used to impose smoking bans. In the local paper the mayor said he changed his mind after the ban had been rejected because he received numerous phone calls advocating the ban and none against it. Of course no one knew the ban was back on the table since it was voted down and no or little public notice of it being back on the agenda seems to have been made. The antismokers pulled another fast one. This is no surprise, they have repeated made it clear that transparency and democratic process has no place in their totalitarian, neo-puritan “paradise.”